Government must scrap IHAT and Northern Ireland witch hunt before ruining more heroes’ lives

A nasty Shiner

THE welcome demise of “tank-chasing” solicitor Phil Shiner will be small comfort to the military heroes he deceitfully dragged before judges.

The boss of the folded Public Interest Lawyers legal firm yesterday admitted 18 of 24 charges of recklessness and ­dishonesty, and will almost certainly now be struck off.

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At PIL Shiner lodged hundreds of false allegations of criminality by ­British troops in Iraq, prompting a five-year £31million inquiry that rightfully collapsed due to lack of evidence.

His disgrace casts fresh doubt on the Iraq Historic Allegations Team — which is yet to charge a ­single soldier.

And it adds further weight to the ­opposition to re-opening investigations into killings by British troops during the Troubles in Northern Ireland.

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Our Armed Forces should be treated with respect rather than abandoned to the smears of dodgy lawyers like Shiner.

The Government must scrap IHAT and the Northern Ireland witch hunt before more heroes’ lives are ruined.

Foreign raid

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THERE is no bigger racket in politics than the hidden handshakes and unaccountable deals behind the billions of pounds that pour from the Department for Inter­national Development.

The Government’s foreign aid ­dispenser is scandalously locked into doling out 0.7 per cent of the UK’s GDP each year — over £12billion in 2015.

Now an investigation reveals £3.4billion was spent on consultancy fees in the past five years, most going on inflated pay and pointless reports.

It’s bad enough that huge sums of taxpayers’ cash are frittered away abroad while hospitals and schools crumble back in Britain.

Worse still that much of the spending can’t even be measured for success.

It’s a total travesty that the Government is sticking cash straight into the pockets of well-fed consultants.

DfID chief Priti Patel has announced a review of all foreign aid contracts.

If these firms really are motivated by improving lives around the world, they shouldn’t mind doing the work for much, much less.

Think blue line

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NOTHING gives people reassurance and promotes pride in their neighbourhood more than seeing a bobby on the beat.

So it’s a great concern that official stats suggest many of us haven’t seen a police officer on patrol in over a year.

Forces will blame stretched budgets, but resources are regularly squandered on hare-brained schemes and ludicrous legal cases.

Police chiefs need to swiftly re-examine their priorities.